Welcome center coming to Berkeley Springs

October 14, 2013

BERKELEY SPRINGS - Anyone driving down Washington or Depot streets in Berkeley Springs lately might see a new structure being built behind the historic train station.

It's an adjunct visitor center, being built by volunteers with donated materials, to welcome tourists coming into town on North Washington Street.

The visitor center will be staffed with volunteers and will include tourism information and a place to get out of the weather, all at a parking lot recently donated to the Town of Bath by CSX.

Volunteers saw a need to be open, especially when the main Travel Berkeley Springs visitor center on Fairfax Street is not, usually late Saturdays and Sundays, and on holidays. The smaller building is meant to be an addition to Travel Berkeley Springs and the Chamber of Commerce.

Lisa Bowman and staff of the Ambrae House bed and breakfast had the brainstorm for another visitor center and enlisted the volunteers.

Plans are moving forward on structural updates and renovations of the historic train station, too. Mayor Susan Webster said it's been a desire of hers for many years to restore the station to its former glory.

"Until 2000, Town Council meetings were held there," Webster said. "And the police station was there until 2002. It was a very active building. Trains came to the Ice House cold storage building as recently as the 1970s. It's one of the things I wanted to develop since I went on council in 1993."

After town offices vacated, the train station was an art gallery and music shop before closing completely a few years ago.

In 2001, the building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places and also listed as a contributing structure to the recently acquired Historic District designation for the Town of Bath in 2009. In early 2010, the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia placed the depot on the 2010 endangered properties list.

The roof needs work to keep it from sustaining further damage, especially in winter months. The Berkeley Springs Depot Committee has a timeline and plan for renovations.

Committee member John McCracken said work may include stabilization and repair of the tile roof system, hazardous material remediation, cellar waterproofing, restoration of interior walls, ceiling and hardwood floors, and upgrading the electrical and plumbing. The work will include Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant restrooms, a fire alarm system and landscape treatment for the exterior.

Actual construction should begin in April 2014 and take about five months.

Webster was pleased business people in the community stepped up to help with a new visitor center, albeit possibly temporary, and have been so dedicated to restoring the old train depot.

"We have lots of ideas to discuss at Town Council about the visitor center, the lot we have acquired, and the future of the Berkeley Springs Train Station," she said. "There may be commercial enterprises we haven't discovered yet."